Fighting nuclear terrorism

March 22, 2014

Editorial: Int'l community must maintain cooperation against nuclear terrorism

拡大写真 

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140322p2a00m0na005000c.html 

More than 50 countries are set to discuss ways to prevent nuclear terrorism at the Nuclear Security Summit 2014 in The Hague on March 24 and 25, as the United States and the European Union continue to lock horns with Russia over the fate of the Crimea and Ukraine.

There are fears that this conflict, which could be viewed as the opening act in a new Cold War, could cast a shadow over discussions at the upcoming summit. The international community must not, however, step back from the cooperative efforts it has built up to prevent nuclear terrorism.

The Nuclear Security Summit has been held every other year since 2010 on the initiative of U.S. President Barack Obama, who in his first term appealed for a world without nuclear weapons. The summit is based on the recognition that even though nuclear arms reductions are important, the world cannot be safe unless countries all over the globe cooperate in thoroughly managing nuclear materials and keeping them from falling into terrorist hands.

Nuclear terrorism has become increasingly realistic in the eyes of people all over the world since the coordinated attacks on the United States in September 2001.

Nuclear experts say a nuclear weapon could theoretically be produced from about eight kilograms of plutonium or roughly 25 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium. Global stockpiles of plutonium and enriched uranium stood at about 500 metric tons and 1,400 tons respectively at the end of 2010. It is, however, easier to produce so-called "dirty bombs," which can contaminate the environment with radioactive materials. Moreover, serious concerns have been raised over terrorist attacks -- both physical and digital -- on nuclear power stations.

At the upcoming summit, the leaders of more than 50 countries, including Japan, the United States and Russia, will discuss efforts to prevent these problems and present any new agreements in "The Hague Communique." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will represent Japan -- the only country to have suffered atomic attack -- at the meeting. There, Abe will emphasize that the Japanese government is striving to make this country the world's safest by minimizing and properly managing nuclear materials it possesses and taking measures to prevent terrorist attacks on atomic power stations. As part of specific action to that end, Japan will agree with the United States to return weapons-grade plutonium that Tokyo had been provided with by Washington in the 1960s for research purposes.

On the other hand, it is regrettable that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the upcoming meeting even though the country had dispatched its president to the past two summits, highlighting differences among member countries' response to the issue. President Obama will host a summit meeting of Group of Seven (G7) industrialized democracies on the sideline of the Nuclear Security Summit to take further action against Russia and discuss assistance to Ukraine. Such being the case, it is inevitable that relations between Russia and the G7 countries, including Japan, will be strained.

Furthermore, summit talks between Japan, the United States and South Korea as well as between the United States and China are expected to be held in The Hague. The profusion of important "side" meetings is feared to overshadow the Nuclear Security Summit itself. However, the attendees should reaffirm the importance of their original goal of preventing nuclear terrorism while remembering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The possibility of nuclear terrorism can no longer be dismissed as unreal. Terrorist organizations could take advantage of conflicts between major countries to find backchannel routes to nuclear materials. Even though the conflict between the U.S.-European alliance and Russia is likely to continue for the time being, it is necessary for the international community to build up cooperation from a broader perspective to prevent the nightmare of nuclear terrorism from becoming real-world tragedy.